War has been far too common in human history and thus it is the central problem of international relations. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine has led to a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, stopping the supply of food, fuel and other essential commodities to the already besieged enclave in an act that under international law amounts to a war crime. Defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete seize” on the long blockade. 

     The area of Gaza is almost surrounded by Israel, hence without the permission of Israel it is not possible to enter or vacate Gaza. It has been under a tightened blockade since 2007 in which most basic goods still enter the region under highly restricted measures.

What is Gaza Strip?

The Gaza Strip is an entirely artificial creation that emerged in 1948 when roughly three-fourths of Palestine’s Arab population was displaced. It is situated in the eastern Mediterranean basin, sharing borders with Egypt in the southwest and Israel to the north and east.

To the west, it is bounded by Mediterranean Sea. It is considered as one of the most densely populated areas globally, with over 2 million residents living in a microscopic area. The term “open air prison” has been widely used by academics, activists and journalists to describe the conditions in Gaza.

Control over Gaza Strip:

Hamas forcibly took control over the Gaza Strip in the year 2007. Thereafter, the Israelis imposed a complete closure on Gaza’s borders. They declared Gaza to be an enemy entity. Hamas is an extremist Palestinian organisation which is considered as terrorist organisation by most of the countries. Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Australia, the USA and the UK designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation .

On the other hand, it is not considered as terrorist organisation by countries such as Brazil,China, Egypt, Iran m Norway, Qatar, Russia,Syria and Turkey.There are also some countries that consider only Hamas’s military wing as a terrorist organisation , for instance New Zealand and Paraguay.

Israel still occupies the West Bank and although it pulled out of Gaza, the UN still regards that piece of land as part of occupied territory.It claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The US is one of only a handful countries to recognise Israel’s claim to the whole of the city.

Impact of the Gaza Blockade:

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the blockade has severely impacted Gaza’s economy, resulting in high unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency. Almost 80% people in Gaza are dependent on international aid and food supply. According to the World Food Programme, 63% of people living in Gaza are food insecure. If we go by its land area, it spreads around 365 sq km which makes it even smaller in area than Meerut city of Indian which is of 450 sq km.

The population of Gaza Strip nearly doubled between 2000 and 2020. Today, about 70% of Gaza’s population are refugees. The blockade of Gaza would ultimately result into the increased sufferings of the people.

The blockade of Gaza Strip would result into insufficient energy supplies to meet demand. Overall internet connectivity in Gaza has slumped since the attack amid Israeli disruptions to power and communications in the region. There are millions of people who are injured in this war thing that require immediate medication. Gaza’s already depleted hospitals without vital medical equipment at a time when medics are struggling to treat thousands gravely wounded in attacks.

It will also endanger the lives of hospital patients, including people with chronic conditions or those in intensive care, including newborn babies on life support.This blockade is hampering the treatment of injured civilians, supply of required medication would also face difficulty in this process. 

Although IDF issued a 24-hour deadline for the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south but this short span of time is not enough to move this large of people. This would result into huge turmoil and crowd , everyone running to reach to the south of Gaza. Further, the ones who would be failed in this process of not shifting to the south would have struggle for their lives. Many of them are loosing their families. The households are facing difficulties in meeting essential needs due to lack of financial resources.

The Gaza Blockade and International Law

The blockade of Gaza is largely recognised as inhumane under the international law. Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said that the Israeli authorities must immediately restore Gaza’s electricity supply and suspend the increased restrictions imposed as a result of the Minister of Defence’s order and lift its illegal 16-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population amounts to a war crime- it is cruel and inhuman. As the occupying power, Israel has a clear obligation under international law to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s civilian population are met.

This blockade restricts three relevant laws under the international law: the law of occupation; international humanitarian law and human rights law. The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law.Israel, in exercising prolonged seize and blockade, must respect a set of obligations that encompass much more than simply not starving the besieged population or not cutting off their water supply.

Paying attention only to the basic, biological needs of the besieged population ignores their human dignity because it reduces— in the eyes of the blockade— human existence to the intake of food and water.

Laws of War under International Law:

According to the Human Rights Watch, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is regarded as an “ongoing armed conflict” under international humanitarian law, governed by Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, supplemented by the Additional Protocols of 1977.Gaza has been under an illegal and internationally condemned blockade since 2007.

Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only a barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease causing a humanitarian catastrophe. Such a policy of collective punishment, initiated by Israel to punish Gazans for political developments within the Gaza Strip, constitutes a continuing flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

These laws of war forbid collective punishment of a population. At their most level, they say warring parties must:

• Distinguish between combatants and civilians 
• Preserve civilian infrastructure, such as homes, schools and hospitals 
• Give prior warning of attacks if civilians are present in targeted locations 
• Refrain from harming medical staff and depriving medical facilities of  electricity and war
• Allow the passage of humanitarian aid 
• Leave civilians and captured combatants unharmed. Murder, cruel treatment, torture and the taking of hostages are forbidden 

Hamas’s killing of civilians have been widely condemned. Now, international attention is turning to Israel’s indiscriminate hammering of the entrapped population of the Gaza Strip, the suffering set to escalate further with the impeding ground offensive.

The UN’s Human Rights Council announced it already as “clear evidence” of war crimes committed by both sides. It is in this sense that Richard Falk, the UN special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has described the blockade of Gaza as a “crime against humanity”.